Saying goodbye
by Zero2o1o
Summary: Joel has had a heart attack and is now on his deathbed, in his final few minutes he says goodbye to those who he loved and those who loved him.


Saying good bye

The last of us fanfiction

By Zero2o1o

This will be my first sad story so get ready to cry.

Chapter one: sweet good bye

Joel laid in his hospital bed his breathing was slow and a little uneasy "it'll be ok Mr. Joel" the doctor told the now 74 year old man who's hair had turned from a jet black to a snow white "you're family is on their way" the doctor continued while he checked the machines that were hooked up to Joel. It amazed Joel that after everything he had been through the start of the infection, watching his daughter Sarah die in his arms, the things he did to stay alive and all the people that tried to kill him that it would be a heart attack that finally got him. He wasn't going to kid himself he had done a lot of bad things in his life and had hurt a whole lot of people just so he could protect one girl his stepdaughter Ellie, who meant the world to him.

Flash back start

Three weeks ago

Joel was sitting on his front deck playing with his old beat up guitar "damn it's hot today" the old man told himself before removing a few beads of sweat from his forehead "hey dad" Joel heard a voice call from the side of the house which made him look that way "howdy baby girl what brings you to my place?" Joel asked his stepdaughter Ellie who had grown up to become a teacher at the local school "I wanted to see if you wanted to come over for dinner?" The 34 year old woman asked the man who had been her father for most of her life "yeah sure I've been meaning to come by but I just don't have the energy lately" Joel replied putting his guitar up against his swinging chair and tried to get up but found it was hard to do at his age "here dad let me help" Ellie commented running to her stepfather's side and helped him out of his chair "thanks Ellie...damn I didn't think getting old would be such a pain in the ass" Joel thanked his stepdaughter then started groaning about the trouble being old was "here dad I'll go get you're cane" Ellie told the white haired old man who thanked her again.

A minute later Ellie came back with Joel's walking cane "here dad" the young woman cheerfully said handing the cane to the old man "so how's Author and Sarah?" Joel asked as he and Ellie started walking away from Joel's house "their fine, I had to ground Author cause he got into a fight at school" Ellie answered pissed that her son kept getting into fights at school "ha sounds like he's a lot like his granddad" Joel laughed even though he knew that none of Ellie's kids were actually his grandchildren "I hope not nothing against you dad, but I don't ever want Author to leave the safety of the wall. God I don't want him or Sarah to see the shit I saw while we were looking for the Fireflies" the long brown haired middle age woman commented the horror of being killed by the infected or hunters were still in her mind "don't worry baby girl if they ever do go outside the wall I'll go with them" Joel joked knowing full well that there was no way he could take a trip outside the safety of the wall without putting himself in very real danger "I really hate to tell you this dad, but you're way to old to go anywhere without someone to help you" Ellie explained not wanting the man that was the only father figure in her life to get hurt "yeah yeah I know I'm old you don't have to remind me of that" the white haired old man groaned angry that he had gotten old when there were people who needed him "sorry dad I didn't mean to make you mad" Ellie apologized feeling bad for Joel who she knew wanted to be there for her and her family. Joel just waved it off and just kept walking till he got to tired and needed to sit down.

"Dad are you ok?" Ellie asked worried about her stepdad's health "I'm fine I'm just a little tired that's all" Joel replied leaning against the bench he and Ellie were sitting on "have you heard from Marlene?" the green eye woman asked out of the blue after a few minutes of silents "no I haven't, why are you asking about that woman she tried to kill you remember" Joel snapped not wanting to talk about Marlene or the Fireflies "I know but you think after all these years Marlene would come and see us" Ellie replied but soon got the feeling her stepdad was hiding something from her "dad what an't you telling me?" She asked giving the old man a stare, Joel let out a loud sigh he decided that he should tell Ellie everything "that day I saved you from the Fireflies...I ran into Marlene in the garage and she tried to stop me from taking you" Joel stopped this next part he never wanted to tell Ellie for it was out of shame or guilt "I shot and killed her, now baby girl I know you must hate me for what I done to Marlene but she gave me no choice if I didn't kill her she would of killed me and took you back up to those doctors" Joel continued unable to look his stepdaughter in the eyes "dad I don't blame you for what you did you were trying to protect me and I know that you didn't want to do what you did, but I'm glad you did cause even if I had died it would of been for a cure that may not of worked" Ellie told the elderly man sitting next to her "how can you forgive me so easily I kept this from you for over 20 years?" Joel asked shocked that his stepdaughter wasn't mad at him for his lie "cause dad for a long time I was so angry with Marlene for giving the Fireflies doctors the go ahead with the surgery, so I can't blame you for what you did to Marlene" Ellie explain giving Joel a kind smile telling him she really was ok with him killing Marlene.

Flash back end

As Joel thought about that conversation he had with Ellie there was a knock at his bedroom door "hey big brother how you feeling?" Tommy asked his brother his own once brown hair had turned silver over the last 20 years "what you think you damn fool I had a fucking heart attack" Joel snarled wanting to flip his little brother off but couldn't find the strength to do so "sorry Joel" Tommy apologized before being hit in the back of his head by his wife Maria "I swear Tommy if you cause Joel to have another heart attack you won't have to worry about me killing you cause I'll let Ellie do it" Maria snapped glaring angrily at her husband "listen Tommy I really need to talk to you alone" Joel cut in as his sister in law scorned his brother "yeah sure hey Maria could you give us a minute?" Tommy asked his wife who agreed and left the room "what you want to talk about Joel?" Tommy asked his only sibling trying to sound happy even though he knew this was the last time he was going to speak to Joel so he took a seat in a chair next to his brother's hospital bed "I'm dying little brother you and I both know that and to be fair I've done a lot of bad things by you" Joel stopped speaking when it got hard for him to breathe "hey don't worry about it" Tommy replied his eyes were now starting to tear up "no Thomas it's not ok, I've done some really bad shit...and I'm sorry I'm so sorry Tommy" Joel shouted but that was soon replaced by sobs "if I could...I would...of ...done...things...differently...I would of...been...a...better man...then I was" the grey haired old man cried as tears were now running down his and Tommy's faces "please…stop talking like...that...Joel,you'll...going...to...get through...…this…and…then we…can go fishing" Tommy replied between his cries and sobs not wanting his brother to die "don't kid yourself Jimmy my number is up I'm going to die and that's the end of it and I'm ok with that" Joel calmly told his little brother who was shocked that he was so ok with dying "well I'm not fucking ok with it Joel and I know Ellie sure is hell won't be ok with this am ready to die attitude y'all having!" Tommy shouted angry that his big brother was so ok with his life coming to a end "you...you can't just...leave us, we need you...I need you...please...Joel...don't go" Tommy cried lying his head on Joel's hospital bed and started crying heavily.

As Tommy broke down in tears Ellie walked in "is everything ok?" She asked before being looked at by both her stepdad and step uncle "I...should go...you...two...have...a lot...to...talk about" Tommy sobbed getting up and headed for the door, but not before getting one last look at his big brother "I love you Joel" the silver haired man said before leaving Joel's room "I love you too Tommy" Joel replied just as his little brother left "so dad how you feeling?" Ellie asked as she sat in the chair Tommy had just been sitting in "I won't lie I've seen better days baby girl" Joel laughed which caused his chest to hurt "Ellie you remember how beautiful you looked the day of you're wedding?" Joel asked feeling like talking about the old days.

Flash back start

Twelve years earlier

Ellie was standing in front of a mirror looking herself over in her pearl white wedding dress, it wasn't new which was fine with the 22 year old woman "what you think?" Ellie asked Maria who had been watching her look over her dress " it doesn't matter what I think, what really matters is what Edward thinks" Maria replied chuckling as she watched Ellie put on her veil "knock knock" Joel commented as he opened the door and walked in "my god Ellie you look beautiful" Joel told his stepdaughter who couldn't help but blush "thanks dad" Ellie replied walking up to her stepdad and hugged him "you look great too dad" the 22 year old woman giggled looking her stepfather over and saw that he was wearing a white dress shirt and black pants along with boots "sorry I'm not wearing nicer shoes baby girl" Joel apologized looking down at his boots knowing that if he had came to a wedding with boots on before the infection he get his ass kicked "it's fine dad come on it's nearly time for the wedding to start" Ellie answered looking up at the clock on the wall and saw that it was 2:55pm.

Flash back end

"You looked very handsome dad" Ellie told her stepfather seeing the tired look on his face and knew they didn't have much time "thanks baby girl I didn't look to bad did...I" Joel replied stopping to take a sharpe heavy breath between his last couple words "dad are you in pain?, I'll go get a doctor" Ellie said getting up but was stopped by Joel "don't bother Ellie I'm just about done" the old man commented seeing tears now running down his stepdaughter's face "what no please dad you can't die please don't die!" Ellie pleased as more tears ran down her cheeks "it's ok to be sad Ellie, but don't live on you're sadist like I did it will destroy your soul" Joel weakly said remembering how his grief nearly drove him over the edge "I'm so proud of you Ellie you've grown up to become a good person that's more then can be said for me" Joel kept saying as his eyes became heavy and he just wanted to sleep "I love you baby..."but he never got to finish what he was going to say cause Joel took his last breath and passed away "dad? DAD NO PLEASE GOD NO DON'T TAKE HIM PLEASE NOT MY FATHER!" Ellie sobbed when she realized that her stepdad was no longer alive.

Ellie held Joel's lifeless body in her arms as she cried even harder then when her mother had died "I...love...you...too...dad" the middle age woman said between her sobs "Ellie what's happen?" Tommy asked as he rushed into the room and saw his step niece holding his big brother's dead body in her arms "oh dear god no" Joel's little brother gasped falling to his knees and started to cry again.

Well I heard there was a secret chord

that David played and it pleased the Lord

But you don't really care for music, do you?

Well it goes like this:

The fourth, the fifth,

The minor fall and the major lift

The baffled king composing Hallelujah

Both Ellie and Tommy were grief stricken cause one had lost a brother and the other had lost the closest thing to a father she had ever knew.

Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah...

Your faith was strong but you needed proof

You saw her bathing on the roof

Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you

She tied you to her kitchen chair

She broke your throne and she cut your hair

And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah

The doctors came in and tried their best to bring Joel back, but no matter how hard they tried they couldn't.

Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah...

Baby I've been here before

I've seen this room and I've walked this floor (you know)

I used to live alone before I knew you

And I've seen your flag on the marble arch

and love is not a victory march

It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah

When the news that Joel had passed away the whole town of Jacksonville was sadded cause Joel had saved the town and several people from bandits.

Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah...

there was a time when you let me know

What's really going on below

But now you never show that to me, do you?

But remember when I moved in you

And the holy dove was moving too

And every breath we drew was Hallelujah

A large funeral was held for Joel and nearly everyone in town showed up to pay their final respects to a man who meant a lot to them all.

Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah...

Maybe there's a God above

But all I've ever learned from love

Was how to shoot somebody who outdrew you

And it's not a cry that you hear at night

It's not somebody who's seen the light

It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah

Ellie couldn't believe that Joel the man who when she first met was a asshole and soon became her first and only father figure was gone "it's ok honey" Edward cooed knowing now Ellie needed him more then ever as she grieved over Joel's death.

Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah...

Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah...

Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah

Hallelujah, hallelujah

When the funeral was over Ellie was very surprised to see Bill who had lost a great deal of weight since the last time she saw him "hey there Ellie how you holding up?" Bill greeted the middle age woman trying to sound friendly specially since the last time they talked he yelled at her for touching his stuff "I'm...I'm not doing so great Bill, how did you find out about Joel's funeral?" Ellie replied never guessing she would of seen Bill again "I was passing through when I heard the news, thought I come by and pay my final respects to a old friend" the now all white haired man commented before taking a deep sigh "listen Ellie I'm sorry about Joel I know he meant a great deal to you and you're family" Bill continued holding his hand out to Ellie who took it "thanks Bill, if you want you can stay there's lots of food at Joel's wake and you can stay a few days to rest and resupply if you need to" Ellie told Bill before leading him to her and Edward's house "hey Bill what happen to that town of your's?" Ellie asked now wondering why Bill left the town she met him in "it's a long story" Bill replied shaking his head in what Ellie guess was anger "we have time so why don't you tell me about it" Ellie commented now listening to Bill and how his town was over run with the infected so he had no choice but to leave "that sucks, why not stay here it's safe and there's nice people here in Jacksonville" Ellie told Bill happily welcoming the old man into the town she had made him with Joel.

The end

Man I won't lie I cried a little while I was writing this and I don't ever really cry.


End file.
